This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The HU-RCMI Administrative Core has the overall responsibility for managing all aspects of the Howard University RCMI Program. It ensures that policies and regulations of Howard University and the NIH are adhered to during the performance of RCMI-supported activities. This core consists of the Principal Investigator (Dean of the College of Medicine), the Program Director, the Program Administrator, and an Administrative Assistant. The activities of the administrative core involve monitoring expenditures on all RCMI accounts;coordinating activities related to program evaluation;maintaining the HU-RCMI website and the websites of RCMI core laboratories and RCMI Investigators, as needed;providing assistance to core laboratory directors to make arrangements for and scheduling of RCMI seminars and workshops;providing logistical assistance to the Internal and External Advisory Committees;and providing budgetary and administrative assistance to RCMI investigators. The Administrative Core will also coordinate the new faculty development initiative, which will consist of a monthly seminar/workshop series. This series will provide an instructional and training venue for Howard University faculty in successfully overcoming challenges encountered in contemporary biomedical research, especially in the Howard University environment. Finally, the Administrative Core will also coordinate the new faculty laboratory start-up assistance initiative. This initiative is a partnership between the RCMI Program and the Departments of Biology, Systems and Computer Sciences, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. In this initiative, each of the three departments will recruit one tenure track faculty whose research is in one or more of the RCMI-targeted areas of computational biology &bioinformatics, proteomics, and biomedical imaging (magnetic, molecular, and ultra-structural). The partnering departments will provide laboratory space and tenure-track salary support for the new hire and the RCMI Program will provide laboratory start-up assistance funds ($150,000) for each new hire. It is expected that this initiative will contribute to the development of a critical mass of faculty in the RCMI targeted areas.